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Stranglers

La Folie Double Black & Pink Vinyl + Signed Print

Double Heavyweight LP£35.00

Originally released in November 1981, LA FOLIE was The STRANGLERS’ sixth studio LP and the last for their original label, UA/Liberty/EMI. Another concept album - though arguably unconsciously so - this time the subject was love and matters of the heart... but interpreted with the sort of unconventional twists and insightful observations only The STRANGLERS could conceive.

The recording sessions were that summer at Richard Branson’s Manor Studios in the Cotswolds, with Steve Churchyard engineering and the band producing. Tony Visconti then mixed the album at his Good Earth Studios in London’s Soho. The result is probably the nearest thing to a “commercial-sounding” album that the band has yet made, with a pure pop sensibility running throughout and vocals high in the mix; a feature that today is commonly regarded as a Visconti trademark. With a string of intriguing and, frankly, at times very long song titles, LA FOLIE deals with topics such as the love of god; hate; the family; lust; drugs; greed, war and destruction; the search for love; celebrity culture’s fickle attitude towards life and death and the true-life tale of cannibalism as the ultimate crime of passion. Lead single, LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY, is a frantic, beat-led, trance-like highly-original pastiche disco number, which sounded years ahead of its time. As such, its release held high hopes but it stalled at UK #42, to the huge disappointment of both band and label. Fortunately, the second single managed to get the band back on track and, as they later admitted, “saved their career”. GOLDEN BROWN was championed heavily by Jet in particular and radio picked up on it over Christmas ’81 and into 1982. It became a global smash and peaked at #2 in the UK, becoming the 11th biggest selling single of 1982. It helped The STRANGLERS shrug off the tag of being “just a punk band” and opened them up to a new and much wider audience. Amongst other accolades, it was famously BBC Radio 2 Single Of The Week and won an Ivor Novello Award in 1983 for The Most Performed Work of 1982, beating Oh Julie by Shakin’ Stevens and Love Plus One by Haircut 100… The third and final single was the gorgeous, atmospheric title track. Unfortunately, a six minute song sung in French was possibly not the best way to capitalise on the mass-market success of GOLDEN BROWN and it failed to dent the UK Top 40.

LA FOLIE itself peaked at #11 on the UK Album charts. The bonus LP on this 2018 release is cut on rose pink vinyl and entitled LA FOLIE – EXTRA TEXTURE. It gathers assorted bonus tracks from the period. On Side 3, THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE is taken from a BBC Radio 1 Session recorded for the David Jensen Show in London on 24th January, 1982. Part of a four-song session which was then first-broadcast on 11th February, 1982, it was recorded on the eve of the hastily-arranged UK tour off the back of the massive success of Golden Brown. It is released here on LP for the very first time. STRANGE LITTLE GIRL was given to EMI as a “peace offering” to help get the band out of their deal. The song was originally one of the demos the band had touted round all the record companies – including EMI – and had had rejected in 1974. Original member, the late Hans Warmling had created the piano melody before Dave joined in ‘75. The lyric was updated, Tony Visconti mixed it again and, with a pleasing sense of completing the circle, it was released in July, 1982 and became the sound of that summer, peaking at UK #7. The band’s profile had never been higher or more broad-reaching and amongst a string of activities their new-found celebrity brought, they were to be found opening village fetes! CRUEL GARDEN is the B-side to SLG. One of their finest, it features acoustic guitars for the first time and a Grappelli-esque keyboard-effect violin. It was a strong sign of what was to come with next album, FELINE. LOVE 30 is the B-side to GOLDEN BROWN. An instrumental, it’s a bit of a paean to tennis rebel John McEnroe and the band had hoped the BBC would use it for their Wimbledon coverage. It wasn’t to be but it’s a fun track with lots of effects. The radio edit of LA FOLIE is next up, with a couple of minutes chopped off. YOU HOLD THE KEY TO MY LOVE IN YOUR HANDS was recorded at the time of the LA FOLIE sessions but didn’t fit and finally saw the light of day on EMI’s HITS & HEROES compilation in 1999.

Side 4 comprises live versions of six songs from the album recorded by the BBC on the final date of the LA FOLIE UK tour at Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 8th February, 1982. They are released here on LP for the very first time. The whole package comes in a wide-spine sleeve and both LPs run at 33⅓ RPM. The album cover presents the original “under water” band images in spot UV. The bonus LP features artwork in the style of the original album, reimagined by the band’s current designer, Phil Johnson. It also includes some never-before-seen live images of the band taken on the LA FOLIE Tour by Ava Rave. An art print of the image of the raven based on the original limited 3D

ORIGINAL LP: LA FOLIE

SIDE 1:

1. NON STOP
2. EVERYBODY LOVES YOU WHEN YOU'RE DEAD
3. TRAMP
4. LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO THE FAMILY
5. AIN'T NOTHIN' TO IT
6. THE MAN THEY LOVE TO HATE

SIDE 2:

1. PIN UP
2. IT ONLY TAKES TWO TO TANGO
3. GOLDEN BROWN
4. HOW TO FIND TRUE LOVE AND HAPPINESS IN THE PRESENT DAY
5. LA FOLIE